Do Real-Time Strategy Video Gamers Have Better Attentional Control?

Author(s):  
Mengxin He ◽  
Lin-Xuan Xu ◽  
Chiang-shan R. Li ◽  
Zihan Liu ◽  
Jiaqi Hu ◽  
...  

Objective Do real-time strategy (RTS) video gamers have better attentional control? To examine this issue, we tested experienced versus inexperienced RTS video gamers on multi-object tracking tasks (MOT) and dual-MOT tasks with visual or auditory secondary tasks (dMOT). We employed a street-crossing task with a visual working memory task as a secondary task in a virtual reality (VR) environment to examine any generalized attentional advantage. Background Similar to action video games, RTS video games require players to switch attention between multiple visual objects and views. However, whether the attentional control advantage is limited by sensory modalities or generalizes to real-life tasks remains unclear. Method In study 1, 25 RTS video game players (SVGP) and 25 non-video game players (NVGP) completed the MOT task and two dMOT tasks. In study 2, a different sample with 25 SVGP and 25 NVGP completed a simulated street-crossing task with the visual dual task in a VR environment. Results After controlling the effects of the speed-accuracy trade-off, SVGP showed better performance than NVGP in the MOT task and the visual dMOT task, but SVGP did not perform better in either the auditory dMOT task or the street-crossing task. Conclusion RTS video gamers had better attentional control in visual computer tasks, but not in the auditory tasks and the VR tasks. Attentional control benefits associated with RTS video game experience may be limited by sensory modalities, and may not translate to performance benefits in real-life tasks.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hamzeloo ◽  
Daria Kvasova ◽  
Salvador Soto-Faraco

Prior studies investigating the effects of playing action video games on attentional control have demonstrated improvements on a variety of basic psychophysical tasks. However, as of yet, there is little evidence indicating that the cognitive benefits of playing action video games generalize to naturalistic multisensory scenes - a fundamental characteristic of our natural, everyday life environments. The present study addressed the generalization of attentional control enhancement due to AVGP experience to real-life like scenarios by comparing the performance of action video-game players (AVGPs) with non-players (NVGPs) on a visual search task using naturalistic, dynamic audio-visual scenes. To this end, a questionnaire collecting data on gaming habits and sociodemographic data as well as a visual search task was administered online to a gender-balanced sample of 60 participants of age 18 to 30 years. According to the standard hypothesis, AVGPs outperformed NVGPs in the search task overall, showing faster reaction times without sacrificing accuracy. In addition, in replication of previous findings, semantically congruent cross-modal cues benefited performance overall. However, according to our results, despite the overall advantage in search, and the multisensory congruence benefit, AVGPs did not exploit multisensory cues more efficiently than NVGPs. Exploratory analyses with gender as a variable indicated that the advantage of AVG experience to both genders should be done with caution.


2021 ◽  
pp. e20200012
Author(s):  
Heidi Rautalahti

The article examines player narratives on meaningful encounters with video games by using an argumentative qualitative interview method. Data gathered among Finnish adult video game players represents narratives of important connections in personal lives, affinities that the article analyzes as further producing three distinctive themes on meaningful encounters. Utilizing a study-of-religion framework, the article discusses meaning making and emerging ways of meaningfulness connected to the larger discussion on the “big questions” that are asked, explored, and answered in popular culture today. Non-religious players talk about intricate and profound contemplations in relation to game memories, highlighting how accidental self-reflections in mundane game worlds frame a continuing search for self.


Author(s):  
Kristen B. Miller

This chapter reports the findings of two surveys taken by players of the video game Rock Band. The purpose of the surveys was to determine what differences, if any, exist between the ways that males and females learn to play the game, are motivated to improve, interact with other players both online and in real life, and interact with other players in online communities for the game. This study suggests that while females do not appear to learn to play this game much differently from males, they are motivated differently and interact with other players differently, and ultimately they have a harder time than males finding a place in the affinity groups that exist for the game, and these findings provide starting points for teachers who intend to use video games and virtual worlds for educational purposes in guarding against creating a “gender gap” between males and females.


Author(s):  
Kathy Sanford ◽  
Timothy Frank Hopper ◽  
Jamie Burren

This chapter explores the intertextual nature of video games. Video games are inherently intertextual and have utilized intertextuality in profound ways to engage players and make meaning. Youth who play video games demonstrate complex intertextual literacies that enable them to construct and share understandings across game genres. However, video game literacy is noticeably absent from formal education. This chapter draws from bi-monthly meetings with a group of youth video gamers. Video game sessions focused on exploring aspect of video game play such as learning and civic engagements. Each session was video recorded and coded using You Tube annotation tools. Focusing on intertextuality as an organizing construct, the chapter reports on five themes that emerged that were then used to help explore the use of video games as teaching tool in a grade 11 Language Arts class. A critical concept that emerged was the idea of complex intertextual literacy that frames and enables adolescents' engagement with video games.


2020 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2019-055300
Author(s):  
Susan Forsyth ◽  
Patricia A McDaniel

BackgroundSince 1972, Philip Morris (PM) has sponsored motorsports. Racing video games are a popular genre among youth and often emulate the branding of their real-life counterparts, potentially exposing youth to tobacco imagery. We examined racing video games for the presence of Marlboro imagery and explored the history of efforts to remove or regulate such imagery.MethodsWe searched the Truth Tobacco Industry documents for relevant documents and used information from video game-related websites and game play videos to identify racing video games that contained Marlboro trademarks and imagery. We also collected information on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board’s (ESRB) tobacco-specific and overall game ratings.FindingsIn 1989, negative publicity surrounding the presence of Marlboro logos in racing games led PM to threaten legal action against two game makers for copyright infringement. PM also launched a media campaign promoting this intervention as evidence of its commitment to youth smoking prevention. Nonetheless, we identified 219 video games from 1979 to 2018 that contained Marlboro trademarks and/or Marlboro-sponsored drivers and livery. Among the games in our sample with an ESRB game rating, all but one received an ‘E,’ indicating appropriateness for everyone, and all but three lacked tobacco content descriptors.ConclusionRacing video games have been and continue to be a vehicle for exposing adolescents to the Marlboro brand. Because voluntary efforts by PM and the video game industry to prevent youth exposure to tobacco brands in video games have been ineffective, USA and international policy-makers should prohibit tobacco content in video games.


Author(s):  
Cristina Cabras ◽  
Maria Laura Cubadda ◽  
Cristina Sechi

This study examines the differences in anxiety, self-esteem, and aggression levels between players of violent and non-violent video game and its connection to gender and age. This survey-based research utilizes survey data from 851 video gamers. The study included 61% men and 39% women. The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 45. Participants were administered an anonymous survey including demographics, a questionnaire for video game habits, Rosenberg's self-esteem scale, a state anxiety inventory (STAI-S), and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). The results revealed significant differences between males and females, as well as between younger and older gamers. Despite the majority of research showing a positive relationship between violent video game exposure and aggression levels, the results suggest that of the preference for a violent video game over a non-violent one is not, in itself, a cause for increased anxiety, self-esteem, and aggression levels.


Author(s):  
Lavinia McLean ◽  
Mark D. Griffiths

Research in the area of video game play and sports psychology has suggested that specific strategies are often employed by players to justify aggressive behaviour used during gameplay. The present study investigates the relationship between game play and moral disengagement strategies in a group of 605 adults who played violent videogames or regularly played competitive sports. The results suggest that sports players were more likely than violent game players to endorse moral disengagement strategies. The video gamers were more likely to use a specific set of moral disengagement strategies (i.e., cognitive restructuring) than the other groups and this may be related to the structural characteristics of videogames. The findings add to recent research exploring the mechanisms by which individuals engage in aggressive acts both virtually and in real-life situations. The results are discussed in relation to similar relevant research in the area, along with recommendations for future research.


2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (6S) ◽  
pp. 1800-1809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel J. Cler ◽  
Talia Mittelman ◽  
Maia N. Braden ◽  
Geralyn Harvey Woodnorth ◽  
Cara E. Stepp

Purpose Video games provide a promising platform for rehabilitation of speech disorders. Although video games have been used to train speech perception in foreign language learners and have been proposed for aural rehabilitation, their use in speech therapy has been limited thus far. We present feasibility results from at-home use in a case series of children with velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD) using an interactive video game that provided real-time biofeedback to facilitate appropriate nasalization. Method Five participants were recruited across a range of ages, VPD severities, and VPD etiologies. Participants completed multiple weeks of individual game play with a video game that provides feedback on nasalization measured via nasal accelerometry. Nasalization was assessed before and after training by using nasometry, aerodynamic measures, and expert perceptual judgments. Results Four participants used the game at home or school, with the remaining participant unwilling to have the nasal accelerometer secured to his nasal skin, perhaps due to his young age. The remaining participants showed a tendency toward decreased nasalization after training, particularly for the words explicitly trained in the video game. Conclusion Results suggest that video game–based systems may provide a useful rehabilitation platform for providing real-time feedback of speech nasalization in VPD. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5116828


1984 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. McClure ◽  
F. Gary Mears

This study examined some personality characteristics and demographic variables of frequent video game users. A survey of video-game-playing attitudes, personality characteristics, and entertainment choices of high school teenagers was made. Frequent video-game players were young, male, and liked competitive activities, such as playing sports. They were bright and liked challenges and science fiction movies. Infrequent players tended to be older, female, not as bright and to like noncompetitive activities. These infrequent players did not like video games, were anxious about computers, and did not read very many books.


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